10 km

SE Michigan Accessibility Explorer 🚌

Link to feedback form
Last updated: March 1, 2021
Links to thesis and Github repository

Data Controls

Race


Income Group


Car ownership


Toggle all data (explore map)


Travel Time Cutoff

What is being shown here?

This map shows how difficult it is to get to jobs for people in Wayne, Washtenaw, Macomb, and Oakland Counties, MI.

Each dot roughly represents one person aged 16 and over. Don't fret, locations are simulated and not exact.

People with higher job accessibility (bluer dots) can reach many jobs easily, perhaps they live close to many jobs or have a car.

People with lower job accessibility (oranger dots) can reach fewer jobs with more difficulty. Perhaps they live further from jobs or rely on sparse transit service.

More information about the value of the accessibility index can be found in the Github repository.


Please don't forget to fill out the feedback form!

Potential future features

From feedback thus far. Always welcoming more ideas!
  • Clickable pins with your own transportation stories
  • Search bar for addresses
  • Walkthrough page explaining different features of the tool

Calculation Settings

Transit Service Type (subtle)


Travel Time Percentile (info)

Made with 💚 by MIT WotF
Contact: kxshen@mit.edu

Job Accessibility

legend

approx one dot per person

Welcome!
Getting to where you need to go in SE Michigan can be difficult, and the pandemic has made it even harder. Perhaps you have an excruciating commute, or are familiar with stories of neighbors getting by without a car. This can make it harder to go the grocery store, doctor's offices, schools, jobs, loved ones, or anything else that's helpful for just living a life in this connected world.

Transportation wonks call this ability to "get where you need to go" accessibility, and have written stacks of academic books and papers on the topic. But in trying to describe how easy it is for you to get around, they rarely make their work easily interpretable or incorporate your voices.

So, why did you make this?

This tool aims to shine a new light on well-known stories of inaccessibility, such as the "21-Mile Man" James Robertson. Hopefully you might gain some new insights or you might be more interested in how together we can make sense of the region's transportation system. This is only a first version of the tool, and its future depends on your feedback. It hopes to be able to amplify your voices and stories in pursuit of a more just and mobile future for all. ✊